A waste of time
by Miffy
Summary: Linden is neglecting his duties on AAU, spending too long with the Tans. He thinks everything is fine and the rest of the staff can handle everything, but is he being a bit optimistic?
1. Chapter 1

AAU was teeming with people all demanding treatment.

"If you'll just have a seat," Nurse Kendall attempted to shout over the noise of the crowd.

"This is ridiculous," Donna began. "There is no way that we can cope with all these people!"

"Well, if the Emergency department continue insisting that they are full and Mr Cullen is still dedicated to the Tans… Damn!" Maddy knocked over a huge pile of patient notes. She grumbled to herself and proceeded to pick them up.

"Mr Limestow?" Maria piped up. An elderly, boring looking gentleman with glasses stood up and made his way into the available cubicle. Maddy and Maria followed.

"Right, Mr… Limestow, what appears to be the problem?" Maddy began, leafing through his notes.

"I've got these pains in my chest…"

"Are you sure that it isn't just your angina?" Maddy raised an eyebrow.

"Oh well, uh, it could be I suppose."

"Is there anything else?"

"Well, as a matter of fact, I do seem to have acquired a bad back."

"You have arthritis, Mr Limestow."

"Of course, I forgot."

"Mr Limestow?"

"Yes?"

"Are you always forgetting things like this? Because, if you are, there are some tests I think we should run."

"Um… I can't remember. Where's Marigold?"

Maddy looked at Maria.

"Is that your wife?" Maria asked. "Do you want us to contact her?"

"Yes, please. She's working at this very hospital, looking after our soldiers. We all have to do our bit in the war effort after all. I've just got back from France myself, I was fine all the time during dangerous combat and then I get back here to find myself in ill health!"

Maddy and Maria exchanged confused looks.

"What year is it, Mr Limestow?"

"1949 of course! Honestly, what do they teach you these days? And when do I get to see a doctor?"

"I am a doctor, Mr Limestow. And it's 2008, not 1949. Don't you remember?"

"Don't insult my intelligence, dear. Of course I know what year it is and I also know that young girls like you would be much better off sticking to needlework and cooking than medicine. Like you're really a doctor, honestly!" Mr Limestow replied, snootily and clearly annoyed.

As they left the cubicle, Maddy turned to Maria.

"Can you get on the phone to psychiatry; see if someone can see him asap." Maria nodded and got straight on the phone.


	2. Chapter 2

"Please, if you would just calm down!" Mark attempted to separate a brawling pair of intoxicated men. Eventually, getting them to retire to their individual cubicles, Mark almost collided with Mr Cullen as he went to fetch Maddy.

"Oh, so you've decided to join us, have you?"

"I'm not staying, just getting a book…" Linden had, in his arms, a huge medical volume which made Mark want to yawn just looking at it.

"Okay, I see. It's not as if we're rushed off our feet our anything, is it?" Mark replied, sardonically.

"Maddy can manage, she's done it before."

"She's an SHO for Goodness sake! She's not used to so much pressure and, to be frank, I think you take all of us for granted."

Mr Cullen didn't bother replying, he believed strongly in the capabilities of the rest of the team, even if Mark didn't.

"Where's my wife?" was the first questions Larry Limestow asked as Nurse Jackson entered his cubicle, having grabbed Mr Cullen in the corridor as the psychiatrists wouldn't be able to see him for several hours. Donna exchanged a glance with the consultant.

"I only ask for you to make one phone call, honestly!"

"Hello, I'm Mr Cullen, can you tell me what the date is?"

"21st September 2008. Why do you lot keep asking?" Linden felt stupid as the man said this. Of course Maddy would have learnt the same tricks as him at medical school about dealing with psychiatric cases.

"Erm, Mr Limestow, you do realise that Marigold unfortunately passed away six years ago?"

"Of course! Oh, you thought that when I asked for my wife I meant Marigold, didn't you?" His question was met with an uneasy nod from Linden. "No, no, no! I meant Wendy, my second wife!"

"Oh, okay, I'm very sorry for the mix-up." Linden felt like a fool in front of the patient and made a swift exit. He approached Maddy at the reception desk.

"Well that was a fantastic waste of my time. You'd better buck your ideas up Dr Young, next time get your facts right before contacting me. Your patient is completely sane, now if you don't mind I have better things to be doing with my time." Linden abruptly rushed off back up to ITU in a huff.

Maddy knew there was no point in talking to him about what Mr Limestow had told her and Maria, he never cared about his colleagues' professional opinions and trusted solely his own. He told her to trust her instinct, but it was very difficult when he didn't believe in her either…


	3. Chapter 3

"What? So there's nothing bonkers about him at all?" Maria began. "He seemed off his rocker earlier."

"Well he gave the right date anyway… it's been one busy day," Donna continued, changing the subject in order to avoid admitting that she didn't know the first thing about psychiatry.

"Yeah, I could do with going home and having a nice relaxing bath followed by watching Corrie on the telly…" The door burst open and Maddy stormed in in a thunderous mood. She slammed the door loudly behind her.

"Can you believe him? Here I am, trying my hardest while he's off gallivanting with the Tans and then he has the pure cheek to have a go at me for failing to do my job properly!" She complained to the two nurses.

"I'll make you a cuppa, seems like you need one…" Donna got up to switch the kettle on, unsure what else to say in response.

"Thanks, Donna." Maddy took a seat next to Maria on the battered sofa.

"Don't worry about the whole Mr Limestow palaver, Mads. If it's any consolidation, I was convinced he was bonkers myself," Maria piped up, attempting to end the awkward silence in which no one really knew what to say to Maddy. Maddy managed a weak smile.

"You three having hectic days too?" Mark had entered the staff room too and was making himself a strong black coffee. "I gave Mr Cullen a good talking to earlier, told him to consider how he was treating us all." Mark looked at Maddy as he said this, aware of the stress she was under.

"Oh so it's you who's put him in a bad mood, is it? Thanks a lot Mark!" Maddy moaned. "Thanks for the tea, Donna, I'd better be off, you know, patients to see and paperwork to catch up on!" Maddy, now in a slightly better mood than she had entered, managed to resist the urge to slam the door and quietly closed it behind her.

Mark looked at Maria and Donna. "What on Earth was all that about?"

"Mr Cullen shouted at her earlier, told her that looney Mr Limestow was completely sane and that she should get her facts right before bothering him."

"He did what? He had absolutely no right!" Mark said, astonished.

"Yeah I know, I feel like going up to Mr Cullen and telling him to stop giving Mads such a hard time." Donna continued.

"Er, no you won't! You've got to let Maddy fight her own battles, Donna. The sooner she learns that she needs to have words with that consultant, the better."

There was a huge crash from outside the door. Maddy could be seen through the window, on her hands and knees picking up a tray of equipment she had knocked over in her haste.

"We'd better all get back to work, especially as your breaks were officially over ten minutes ago. Come on." Mark exited the room, Maria and Donna slowly rising from the sofa, placing their dirty mugs in the sink and following their boss back into the mayhem.


	4. Chapter 4

"Heya, Maddy!" Sam had arrived on AAU.

"What are you doing here?" Maddy asked, not even bothering to look up from her paperwork.

"Mark caught me in the corridor; he said you might want a third opinion on some guy you think ought to see a psychiatrist."

"Oh yeah, he's over there," Maddy finally looked up and pointed to bed eight. She burst out laughing when she saw Sam's face; he was sporting a pair of fake glasses, similar to Linden's, and was attempting to look as serious and grumpy as possible.

"Are you laughing at me?" Sam asked, mimicking a Scottish accent. "Mark warned me you'd be grumpy, so I decided to try cheering you up, looks like it worked!"

"Haha, you know you can always make me laugh, Sammy!"

"Yeah, I'd better go and see that patient." Sam waltzed off to assess Mr Limestow. He returned, just a few minutes later, looking slightly cheesed off.

"As far as I could find, there Guy is absoloutely fine. Maybe you should try listening to Mr Cullen instead of moaning about him all the time. You could still ask the psychiatrists if you want but you've got my professional opinion." His pager bleeped, shouting for urgent attention. "I'm needed back on Keller, catch you later!"

Maddy sighed as he departed. If it had come to her best friends telling her she was wrong then it looked as though she would have to just admit defeat and discharge the elderly gentleman.

Meanwhile, Mark and Donna were attempting to deal with a man of unknown nationality, who seemed unable to understand a single word they said.

"Erm… Comment t'appelle tu?" Donna tried her best with her GCSE French. The man gave her a blank stare. "Obviously not French then."

"Wie heisst du?" Mark asked but was met with the same look.

"¿Cόmo te llamas?" Nothing.

"Well, I don't know anymore languages. Hey, Maddy, could give us a hand here?" Dr Young, who had been walking past, came to join the pair. "We have a man who doesn't speak English, French, Spanish or German. Any help?"

"Oh, okay. Como é seu nome?" Once again the man looked confused and asked them something in his unknown native tongue. The three members of staff turned around as Mr Cullen entered the scene.

"Foreign?" He murmured, Mark nodded in reply. "What languages have you tried?"

"Frech, German, Spanish and what ever Maddy was saying." Donna answered.

"Portuguese," Maddy corrected her.

"Dè that thu a dèanamh?" The now agitated patient asked.

"He's talking Scottish Gaelic," Mr Cullen quickly assimilated. "I learnt a bit where I grew up." He answered before anyone could even pose the question. "Mark, could you get an interpreter, please. Dr Young, my office now!"

Maddy exchanged a worried look with the two nurses before gulping and following her Boss into the small room.

"She's not going to be in trouble, is she?" Donna asked anxiously.

"Well, when Mr Cullen bothers to turn up down here, it normally spells issues for Maddy…" Mark sighed. "I didn't know anyone even spoke Scottish Gaelic anymore. Ah well, I'd better get that interpreter."


	5. Chapter 5

"I have repeatedly asked you to discharge Mr Limestow and you have, once again, opted to go against my orders. You even went as far as involving another member of staff to gain a third opinion. Now if, by the time I return from upstairs, he is not gone, I will have you up in front of Jane Grayson. Am I making myself clear enough for you?" Linden shouted in an angry tone. Maddy had never seen him this livid before and she knew that this was no time to be answering back to the angry consultant. She nodded cautiously, shocked at how mad the normally calm-mannered man had become. "Leave, now!" Maddy quickly obeyed, desperate to be away from him. He had made her feel like a schoolgirl being told off for not doing her homework.

Pale-faced and eyes slightly damp, Maddy grabbed Mr Limestow's notes from the huge pile on the desk and went to his bed.

"Mr Limestow, I have been advised to discharge you as we cannot seem to find anything wrong with you in the slightest. If you would just sign this form here…" Maddy handed the elderly man a pen quickly; she couldn't wait until he, and all the trouble he had caused her that shift, walked out the doors of the hospital to be swallowed up by the shadows of night.

"Where's Marigold?" The man looked up, confused. Maddy tried to blank out the fact that he had even asked the question. "Nurse, I said where's Marigold?"

"I refuse to play these games; you're trying to set me up. I refuse to be the victim of your pranks!" Maddy said, quietly but with huge anger as the SHO finally lost her paitience with him. "First of all, I am a doctor, not a nurse. And second, Marigold has passed away! You're married to Wendy now!"

"What? How can you be sure? She was only here an hour ago!" The old man's eyes darkened and narrowed as he thought this through in his confused mind. "You killed her, didn't you? You've murdered my Marigold!"

"No! I don't have to listen to this, would you please just leave, Sir!" Maddy turned her back on him in disbelief at the accusations being thrown at her. All of a sudden, she felt something cold and sharp against her neck. She gulped.

"You'll pay for this, you'll pay for murdering Marigold!"


	6. Chapter 6

"Okay, just put the knife down, Mr Limestow…" Maddy tried to regain control of the dangerous situation. In response, he seemed to edge the blade ever nearer to her neck; Maddy became aware of her breathing getting faster.

The curtain around the cubicle opened; Maria jumped at the shock of what was going on, unsure of what to do.

"Maria, get help," the nurse remained where she was, frozen to the spot. "Now!" Maria regained control of herself and ran off the call security. The seconds seemed like hours to Maddy as she waited for help to come. Eventually, Mark ran in with Linden in tow, both had expressions of panic upon their faces.

"Get away!" Mr Limestow threatened. "You shouldn't defend a murderer, she's murdered my Marigold!" Mark looked at Linden, unsure of what to say or do.

"Mr Limestow, your wife died years ago. Dr Young has done nothing wrong." Linden said, attempting to reclaim his calm manner.

"Lies, lies!" Mr Limestow replied. In response to Linden's attempts to rescue Maddy, he tightened his grip on the SHO's neck. Maddy began to panic, struggling to breath.

"Where is security?" Mark muttered to himself. "Why don't you just put the knife down, you know that this isn't what Marigold would want, is it?"

"You know nothing about my wife! How could you? You lot aren't even worthy to speak her name, let alone place judgement on what she would want!"

"But is this really resolving anything?" Mark pressed.

"She killed my Marigold, she deserves to suffer!"

Seeing Mark's efforts were getting them nowhere, Linden decided to try a different approach. Maddy gave him a desperate look, reminding him of the huge cost that was at stake. "Think of all those good memories you shared with Marigold." Linden saw the old man's mind waver to those happy, gone-by days.

"She was always so happy, so funny and full of love… There was this one time, we had been shovelling all the snow from the garden path; she got a bit overexited with the shovel and accidentally hit me over the head. I fell to the ground and I have never seen her so terrified and worried in all my life. She thought she's killed me and, when I opened my eyes and sat up on the snow, she didn't berate me for worrying her, she just laughed…" His eyes filled with tears. He looked down at his shaking hand with the knife still held in it, the young doctor gasping for breath in his stiff grip and her two colleagues desperately attempting to save their friend from his blade. He slowly and sadly lowered his arm, the knife landing on the floor with a clatter.

Mark rushed forward to comfort Maddy, who was as white as a sheet and too relieved for words. Linden simply stared into the old man's tired eyes, as if he was trying to read what was going through his mind at that moment.


End file.
